THE WEEK IN CHESS 532 17th January 2005 by Mark Crowther

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Mark Crowther
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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Corus Chess Tournament
3) XXX Seville Open
4) 3rd Platonov Memorial
5) Keres Memorial Rapid
6) 129th New York Masters
7) 11th Verona Open
8) Augsburg GM
9) Man-Machine Indonesia
10) Stepichev Memorial
11) Montreal World Chess Tournament
12) 4th Praha Open
13) 9th Bad Zwestener Schachtage
14) IV Cerrado Internacional Escuela Kasparov-Marcote
15) 3rd Parsvnath International Open
16) Open Norwegian Rapid Championship
17) Tapolca Open
18) Australian Open
19) Victor Frias 1956-2005
20) No movement in the Fischer case
21) ACP Tour Update
22) Professional World Chess Ranking
23) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

Corus Chess Tournament       42 games
XXX Seville Open            104 games
3rd Platonov Memorial        15 games
129th New York Masters        5 games
11th Verona Open            196 games
Augsburg GM                  66 games
Man-Machine Indonesia        16 games
Stepichev Memorial          518 games
Australian Open              35 games
997 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Manuel López, Einar S. Einarsson, Tarjei J. Svensen, Yannick Pelletier, Vladimir Dvorkovich, Nigel Freeman, Stewart Reuben, Benny Asman, Geurt Gijssen, Eugeny Atarov, Laszlo Nagy, Ian Rogers, Pedro Federico Hegoburu, Torstein Bae, Marek Kolk, H.Asadzadeh, Andy McFarland, Kristianus Liem, Thomas Henrich, Michiel Abeln and everyone else who helped with the issue.

This issue of TWIC is out early as I travel tomorrow to the Wijk aan Zee tournament for a few days. The organisers have again produced a fascinating field and the early results suggest that the favourites are not going to get things all their own way. I'm really looking forward to my first visit. TWIC has daily coverage of the event.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Corus Chess Tournament

The Corus Chess Tournament takes place 14th-30th January 2005. Vesselin Topalov got off to a perfect 2/2 start to the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He beat Vladimir Kramnik in only 20 moves in round 2. Pre-event favourite Viswanathan Anand was also defeated in round 2 by Peter Leko. Daily reports on the TWIC main pages from on the spot reporter Michiel Abeln.

Official site: http://www.coruschess.com/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 15-30 i 2005                   cat. XIX (2721)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Topalov, Veselin        g BUL 2757  * . . . . 1 . . . . . . 1 .  2.0       
 2. Adams, Michael          g ENG 2741  . * . = . . . . . . . 1 . .  1.5  2900 
 3. Leko, Peter             g HUN 2749  . . * . = . . . . . 1 . . .  1.5  2928 
 4. Short, Nigel D          g ENG 2674  . = . * . . = . . . . . . .  1.0  2725 
 5. Sokolov, Ivan           g NED 2685  . . = . * . . . . . . . . =  1.0  2742 
 6. Ponomariov, Ruslan      g UKR 2700  0 . . . . * . . . 1 . . . .  1.0  2742 
 7. Grischuk, Alexander     g RUS 2710  . . . = . . * . . . = . . .  1.0  2730 
 8. Bruzon, Lazaro          g CUB 2652  . . . . . . . * = . . . = .  1.0  2716 
 9. Van Wely, Loek          g NED 2679  . . . . . . . = * . . = . .  1.0  2696 
10. Polgar, Judit           g HUN 2728  . . . . . 0 . . . * . . . 1  1.0  2717 
11. Anand, Viswanathan      g IND 2786  . . 0 . . . = . . . * . . .  0.5  2536 
12. Morozevich, Alexander   g RUS 2741  . 0 . . . . . . = . . * . .  0.5  2517 
13. Kramnik, Vladimir       g RUS 2754  0 . . . . . . = . . . . * .  0.5  2511 
14. Svidler, Peter          g RUS 2735  . . . . = . . . . 0 . . . *  0.5  2513 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (January 15, 2005)

Topalov, Veselin       -  Ponomariov, Ruslan     1-0   64  B48  Sicilian Paulsen
Short, Nigel D         -  Adams, Michael         1/2   23  C99  Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Sokolov, Ivan          -  Leko, Peter            1/2   51  D47  Queens Gambit Meran
Grischuk, Alexander    -  Anand, Viswanathan     1/2   22  C80  Ruy Lopez Open
Bruzon, Lazaro         -  Kramnik, Vladimir      1/2   26  E14  Queens Indian
Polgar, Judit          -  Svidler, Peter         1-0   30  C89  Ruy Lopez Marshall
Morozevich, Alexander  -  Van Wely, Loek         1/2   50  A17  English Opening

Round 2 (January 16, 2005)

Adams, Michael         -  Morozevich, Alexander  1-0   49  C42  Petroff's Defence
Ponomariov, Ruslan     -  Polgar, Judit          1-0   56  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Grischuk, Alexander    -  Short, Nigel D         1/2   34  C91  Ruy Lopez
Van Wely, Loek         -  Bruzon, Lazaro         1/2   32  D63  Queens Gambit Main Line with 7.Rc1
Anand, Viswanathan     -  Leko, Peter            0-1   57  B33  Sicilian Sveshnikov
Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Topalov, Veselin       0-1   20  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Svidler, Peter         -  Sokolov, Ivan          1/2   43  C80  Ruy Lopez Open

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 15-30 i 2005                   cat. XIII (2564)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar   g AZE 2657  * . . . . . . . . 1 . . . 1  2.0       
 2. Stellwagen, Daniel       m NED 2524  . * . . . . . . . . 1 . 1 .  2.0       
 3. Carlsen, Magnus          g NOR 2553  . . * . . . . . 1 = . . . .  1.5  2691 
 4. Karjakin, Sergey         g UKR 2599  . . . * . = . . . . . . 1 .  1.5  2693 
 5. Cheparinov, Ivan         m BUL 2572  . . . . * . = . . . . . . 1  1.5  2705 
 6. Stefanova, Antoaneta     g BUL 2491  . . . = . * . = . . . . . .  1.0  2623 
 7. Smeets, Jan              g NED 2475  . . . . = . * . . . = . . .  1.0  2624 
 8. Nielsen, Peter Heine     g DEN 2648  . . . . . = . * . . . = . .  1.0  2571 
 9. Kosteniuk, Alexandra     m RUS 2490  . . 0 . . . . . * . . 1 . .  1.0  2602 
10. Ramirez, Alejandro       g CRC 2507  0 . = . . . . . . * . . . .  0.5  2412 
11. Nikolic, Predrag         g BIH 2676  . 0 . . . . = . . . * . . .  0.5  2306 
12. Onischuk, Alexander      g USA 2652  . . . . . . . = 0 . . * . .  0.5  2376 
13. Ernst, Sipke             m NED 2509  . 0 . 0 . . . . . . . . * .  0.0       
14. Nijboer, Friso           g NED 2549  0 . . . 0 . . . . . . . . *  0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (January 15, 2005)

Karjakin, Sergey        -  Ernst, Sipke            1-0   34  C11  French Defence
Smeets, Jan             -  Cheparinov, Ivan        1/2   66  B51  Sicilian Rossolimo
Nielsen, Peter Heine    -  Stefanova, Antoaneta    1/2   64  D15  Slav Defence
Kosteniuk, Alexandra    -  Onischuk, Alexander     1-0  115  C65  Ruy Lopez Berlin
Ramirez, Alejandro      -  Carlsen, Magnus         1/2   40  E55  Nimzo Indian
Nikolic, Predrag        -  Stellwagen, Daniel      0-1   51  A62  Benoni
Nijboer, Friso          -  Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  0-1   34  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation

Round 2 (January 16, 2005)

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  -  Ramirez, Alejandro      1-0   45  B22  Sicilian Alapin
Stellwagen, Daniel      -  Ernst, Sipke            1-0   34  C80  Ruy Lopez Open
Carlsen, Magnus         -  Kosteniuk, Alexandra    1-0   31  E01  Catalan
Cheparinov, Ivan        -  Nijboer, Friso          1-0   58  A84  Dutch
Stefanova, Antoaneta    -  Karjakin, Sergey        1/2   26  A32  English Symmetrical
Nikolic, Predrag        -  Smeets, Jan             1/2   38  D71  Gruenfeld 3.g3
Onischuk, Alexander     -  Nielsen, Peter Heine    1/2   50  D39  QGD Ragozin


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus C Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 15-30 i 2005                    cat. VII (2422)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Zhukova, Natalia       wg UKR 2465  * . . . . . . . . . 1 1 . .  2.0       
 2. Alekseev, Evgeny        g RUS 2605  . * . . . . . . 1 = . . . .  1.5  2564 
 3. Georgiev, Vladimir      g MKD 2517  . . * . . . . . . 1 = . . .  1.5  2553 
 4. Korotylev, Alexey       g RUS 2603  . . . * . . . = . . . . . 1  1.5  2525 
 5. L'Ami, Erwin            m NED 2531  . . . . * . = . . . . . 1 .  1.5  2567 
 6. Spoelman, Wouter          NED 2381  . . . . . * = . . . . . . 1  1.5  2517 
 7. Pliester, Leon          m NED 2383  . . . . = = * . . . . . . .  1.0  2456 
 8. Jonkman, Harmen         g NED 2399  . . . = . . . * . . . = . .  1.0  2476 
 9. Negi, Parimarjan          IND 2316  . 0 . . . . . . * . . . 1 .  1.0  2485 
10. Bosboom, Manuel         m NED 2426  . = 0 . . . . . . * . . . .  0.5  2368 
11. Muhren, Bianca         wm NED 2295  0 . = . . . . . . . * . . .  0.5  2298 
12. Mamedjarova, Zeinab    wg AZE 2349  0 . . . . . . = . . . * . .  0.5  2239 
13. Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea  wg NED 2366  . . . . 0 . . . 0 . . . * .  0.0       
14. Wempe, Joost              NED 2265  . . . 0 . 0 . . . . . . . *  0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (January 15, 2005)

Zhukova, Natalia       -  Muhren, Bianca         1-0   36  E57  Nimzo Indian
Alekseev, Evgeny       -  Negi, Parimarjan       1-0   37  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Georgiev, Vladimir     -  Bosboom, Manuel        1-0   36  E70  King's Indian Fianchetto
Spoelman, Wouter       -  Pliester, Leon         1/2   65  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Jonkman, Harmen        -  Mamedjarova, Zeinab    1/2   66  B22  Sicilian Alapin
Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea  -  L'Ami, Erwin           0-1   28  D00  Queen's Pawn Game
Wempe, Joost           -  Korotylev, Alexey      0-1   38  B09  Pirc Defence

Round 2 (January 16, 2005)

Korotylev, Alexey      -  Jonkman, Harmen        1/2   46  A13  Reti Opening
Spoelman, Wouter       -  Wempe, Joost           1-0   24  C18  French Winawer
Pliester, Leon         -  L'Ami, Erwin           1/2   59  B99  Sicilian Najdorf
Negi, Parimarjan       -  Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea  1-0   28  B06  Modern Defence
Bosboom, Manuel        -  Alekseev, Evgeny       1/2   47  E12  Queens Indian Petrosian
Muhren, Bianca         -  Georgiev, Vladimir     1/2   68  C45  Scotch Game
Mamedjarova, Zeinab    -  Zhukova, Natalia       0-1   42  D48  Queens Gambit Meran

3) XXX Seville Open

The XXX Seville Open took place 7th-15th January 2005. Ibragim Khamrakulov won the event on tie-break from Oleg Korneev Daniel Campora and Vladimir Epishin all of whom scored 7.5/9. Games from the final round missing.

Official site: http://fsajedrez.com/

Final Round 9 Standings:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXX Open Seville ESP (ESP), 7-15 i 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Khamrakulov, Ibragim S            m  UZB 2500  7.5    57.5   40.0    45.0
  2. Korneev, Oleg                     g  RUS 2583  7.5    55.5   39.0    43.5
  3. Campora, Daniel H                 g  ARG 2549  7.5    55.0   40.5    43.5
  4. Epishin, Vladimir                 g  RUS 2599  7.5    51.0   38.5    39.5
  5. Peralta, Fernando                 m  ARG 2531  7      56.5   39.0    44.0
  6. Tissir, Mohamed                   m  MAR 2394  7      54.0   37.0    42.0
  7. Teran Alvarez, Ismael             m  ESP 2431  7      51.0   36.0    39.5
  8. Matamoros Franco, Carlos S        g  ECU 2513  7      50.5   36.0    39.0
  9. Parligras, Mircea                 g  ROM 2559  6.5    54.5   36.5    43.0
 10. Mirzoev, Azer                     g  AZE 2513  6.5    53.5   36.0    42.5
 11. Komljenovic, Davor                g  CRO 2479  6.5    53.0   36.0    41.0
 12. Barrientos, Sergio                f  COL 2435  6.5    52.5   36.0    41.0
 13. Rizouk, Aimen                     m  ALG 2465  6.5    52.5   35.5    40.5
 14. Fernandez Romero, Ernesto         m  ESP 2471  6.5    52.0   36.0    41.0
 15. Rodriguez Guerrero, Enrique       m  ESP 2433  6.5    51.5   36.5    40.0
 16. Razmyslov, Alexander              f  UKR 2311  6.5    51.5   36.0    40.5
 17. Garcia Luque, Agustin             m  ESP 2390  6.5    51.0   35.5    40.0
 18. Paunovic, Dragan                  m  SCG 2520  6.5    51.0   35.0    40.5
 19. Spraggett, Kevin                  g  CAN 2589  6.5    51.0   34.0    39.5
 20. Estremera Panos, Sergio           m  ESP 2377  6.5    50.5   35.0    40.0
 21. Escobar Forero, Alder             m  COL 2407  6.5    49.5   33.5    38.5
 22. Kononenko, Tatiana                wg UKR 2305  6.5    49.0   34.5    38.5
 23. Barria, Daniel                    f  CHI 2347  6.5    46.5   31.5    35.5
 24. Bellia, Fabrizio                  m  ITA 2407  6.5    46.5   31.0    36.0
 25. Alonso, Rene                      m  CUB 2395  6.5    45.0   31.5    35.5
 26. Mellado Trivino, Juan             m  ESP 2423  6      54.5   35.5    42.5
 27. Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel         g  ESP 2425  6      53.5   34.5    41.5
 28. Garrido Dominguez, Jesus             ESP 2303  6      51.0   33.0    40.0
 29. Robles Garcia, Claudia               ESP 2053  6      50.0   29.5    39.5
 30. Szmetan, Ricardo                  f  BAR 2283  6      49.5   33.5    38.5
 31. Belezky, Sasha                    m  UKR 2402  6      49.0   35.5    38.0
 32. Pogorelov, Ruslan                 g  UKR 2439  6      49.0   33.0    38.5
 33. Melero Fidalgo, Juan de Dios         ESP 2202  6      47.5   31.5    37.5
 34. Gutierrez Jimenez, Juan M            ESP 2110  6      47.0   30.5    37.0
 35. Aranaz Portugues, Jose Carlos        ESP 2084  6      47.0   29.0    37.0
 36. Valenti, Giuseppe                 f  ITA 2269  6      46.5   32.0    35.5
 37. Fenollar Jorda, Manuel               ESP 2191  6      46.0   31.5    35.0
 38. Ramos Suria, Felix                   ESP 2109  6      45.5   28.0    33.5
 39. Justiniano Marquez, Marco Ant        ESP 2162  6      44.0   33.5    34.0
 40. Ferrer Garcia, Isaac                 ESP 2216  6      44.0   31.5    34.5
 41. Rodriguez Aguilera, Antonio       f  ESP 2244  6      44.0   31.5    34.0
 42. Romero Garcia, Mariano            f  ESP 2139  6      43.5   29.5    34.0
 43. De Andres Gonalons, Fernando         ESP 2100  6      43.0   28.0    32.5
 44. Durao, Joaquim                    m  POR 2127  6      42.5   31.0    33.0
 45. Diaz Rodriguez, Jose Antonio         ESP 2117  6      42.0   31.0    33.0
237 players

4) 3rd Platonov Memorial

The 3rd Platonov Memorial took place in Kiev 6th-12th of January 2005. Vladimir Sergeev won the event with 7.5/9.

Further information: http://mirror01.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/turnir/t038.html

------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Platonov Mem Kiev UKR (UKR), 4-12 i 2005      cat. VIII (2449)
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sergeev, Vladimir   m UKR 2438  * 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2723 
 2. Vysochin, Spartak   g UKR 2579  1 * = = = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2600 
 3. Shishkin, Vadim     m UKR 2488  0 = * = 1 = = 1 = 1  5.5  2524 
 4. Pavlov, Sergey        UKR 2368  = = = * 0 = 1 = 1 1  5.5  2538 
 5. Kislinsky, Alexey   m UKR 2406  0 = 0 1 * 0 1 = 1 1  5.0  2496 
 6. Itkis, Boris        m ROM 2454  0 = = = 1 * = = 0 1  4.5  2448 
 7. Lutsko, Igor        g BLR 2527  0 = = 0 0 = * = 1 1  4.0  2397 
 8. Kruppa, Yuri        g UKR 2553  0 0 0 = = = = * 1 1  4.0  2394 
 9. Moliboga, V           RUS 2314  0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 * =  2.0  2244 
10. Kochetkov, Vitali     BLR 2364  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = *  0.5  2014 
------------------------------------------------------------------

5) Keres Memorial Rapid

The Keres Memorial Rapid tournament took place in Tallinn 7th-9th January 2005. Alexei Shirov won the event with 5/5/7. The field included Anatoly Karpov and Boris Gelfand who finished on 50%. Games not yet available but hopefully they will be.

Further info: http://www.maleliit.ee/ - perhaps Shirov will publish some games on his website: http://www.shirovonline.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------
Keres Memorial Rapid Tallinn EST 7-9 i 2005  cat. XIII (2560)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shirov, Alexei         g ESP  2713   # = 1 1 = 1 = 1  5.5
2. Malaniuk, Vladimir P   g UKR  2474   = # = = 0 1 = 1  4.0
3. Balashov, Yuri S       g RUS  2469   0 = # = 1 = = 1  4.0
4. Karpov, Anatoly        g RUS  2674   0 = = # 1 = = =  3.5
5. Gelfand, Boris         g ISR  2696   = 1 0 0 # = 1 =  3.5
6. Brodsky, Michail       g UKR  2515   0 0 = = = # = 1  3.0
7. Rytshagov, Mikhail     g EST  2436   = = = = 0 = # =  3.0
8. Dobrov, Vladimir       g RUS  2501   0 0 0 = = 0 = #  1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------

6) 129th New York Masters

The 129th New York Masters took place on 11th January 2005. There is a problem with the game Braylovsky - Nakamura where there is a queen en-prise for a move.

The regular rapid event (mostly weekly) organised by IM Greg Shahade and John Fernandez provides regular chances for keen players of 2200 and above to compete against GMs and IMs in New York. See: http://www.newyorkmasters.com/

7) 11th Verona Open

The 11th Verona International Chess Festival took place 2nd-9th January 2005. Miroljub Lazic won the event on tie-break ahead of three others on 6.5/9.

Official site: http://www.arroccoclub.it/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11th Open Verona ITA (ITA), 4-9 i 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Lazic, Miroljub            g  SCG 2512  +27 + 8 +21 = 3 = 5 = 2 =12 +11 = 6  6.5  2571 
 2. Horvath, Jozsef1           g  HUN 2508  +19 +13 =23 = 4 +15 = 1 = 9 +16 = 3  6.5  2494 
 3. Godena, Michele            g  ITA 2550  +38 = 6 +20 = 1 =14 +32 = 5 + 9 = 2  6.5  2567 
 4. Brunello, Sabino              ITA 2258  +40 = 9 +17 = 2 =32 = 7 +21 = 5 +14  6.5  2566 
 5. Stojanovic, Mihajlo        m  SCG 2504  +18 +11 =14 + 6 = 1 = 9 = 3 = 4 = 7  6.0  2499 
 6. Shytaj, Luca               f  ITA 2356  +41 = 3 +12 - 5 = 7 + 8 =10 +21 = 1  6.0  2518 
 7. Ortega, Lexy               g  ITA 2441  -15 +35 =10 +22 = 6 = 4 +25 +12 = 5  6.0  2390 
 8. Salvador, Roland              PHI 2315  +34 - 1 =19 +28 =12 - 6 +29 +10 +16  6.0  2392 
 9. Martinez, Rolly               PHI 2360  +22 = 4 +26 +23 =21 = 5 = 2 - 3 =11  5.5  2447 
10. Caruso, Augusto               ITA 2216  +17 -14 = 7 +24 =20 +13 = 6 - 8 +19  5.5  2444 
11. Buchicchio, Giampaolo         ITA 2315  +33 - 5 =22 +26 =23 +17 +15 - 1 = 9  5.5  2405 
12. Skembris, Spyridon         g  GRE 2446  +28 =26 - 6 +33 = 8 +38 = 1 - 7 +15  5.5  2359 
13. Cocchi, Andrea             f  ITA 2284  +44 - 2 =28 -19 +27 -10 +33 +25 +20  5.5  2303 
14. Borgo, Giulio              m  ITA 2388  +29 +10 = 5 =15 = 3 =21 -16 +24 - 4  5.0  2366 
15. Lettieri, Giuseppe            ITA 2202  + 7 +24 =32 =14 - 2 +20 -11 +17 -12  5.0  2462 
16. Vocaturo, Daniele             ITA 2226  +31 -21 +39 -32 +19 +23 +14 - 2 - 8  5.0  2352 
17. Luther, Thomas             g  GER 2540  -10 +29 - 4 +35 +37 -11 +22 -15 +30  5.0  2250 
18. Scharrer, Patrick             ITA 2194  - 5 -33 +43 +34 =25 -22 +27 +37 =24  5.0  2243 
19. Sbarra, Marco              f  ITA 2231  - 2 +44 = 8 +13 -16 =24 =20 +23 -10  4.5  2300 
20. Guido, Flavio              f  ITA 2353  =43 +25 - 3 +27 =10 -15 =19 +22 -13  4.5  2222 
21. Moser, Eva                 m  AUT 2447  +37 +16 - 1 +38 = 9 =14 - 4 - 6 =26  4.5  2306 
22. Capitelli, Paolo              ITA 2161  - 9 +40 =11 - 7 +35 +18 -17 -20 +34  4.5  2270 
23. Trabert, Bettina           wg GER 2331  +36 +39 = 2 - 9 =11 -16 =30 -19 +35  4.5  2251 
24. Bruno, Fabio               f  ITA 2368  +35 -15 =27 -10 +28 =19 +38 -14 =18  4.5  2213 
25. Delizia, Costantino           ITA 2145  =32 -20 =36 +39 =18 +26 - 7 -13 +33  4.5  2251 
26. D'Innocente, Stefano          ITA 2236  +42 =12 - 9 -11 +33 -25 +34 =30 =21  4.5  2243 
27. Esposito, Luca                ITA 2212  - 1 +34 =24 -20 -13 +41 -18 +38 =29  4.0  2212 
28. Pechy, Alaster                ITA 2154  -12 +42 =13 - 8 -24 =39 =40 =29 +37  4.0  2164 
29. Danieli, Enrico               ITA 2142  -14 -17 +44 +30 -38 +37 - 8 =28 =27  4.0  2224 
30. De Santis, Alessio         f  ITA 2268  -39 =36 =33 -29 +44 +40 =23 =26 -17  4.0  2144 
31. Schiraldi, Mauro              ITA 2036  -16 -37 =41 -40 =42 -34 +45 +44 +38  4.0  2066 
32. Mrdja, Milan               m  CRO 2420  =25 +43 =15 +16 = 4 - 3  .   .   .   3.5  2287 
33. Miatello, Alberto             ITA 2087  -11 +18 =30 -12 -26 +36 -13 +39 -25  3.5  2157 
34. Bertani, Gianfranco           ITA 2123  - 8 -27 +40 -18 =36 +31 -26 +41 -22  3.5  2075 
35. Opacic, Alexandar             ITA 2105  -24 - 7 +42 -17 -22 +44 =36 +40 -23  3.5  2151 
36. Astengo, Corrado              ITA 2134  -23 =30 =25 -37 =34 -33 =35 =42 =41  3.0  2027 
37. Facchetti, Gianni             ITA 2203  -21 +31 -38 +36 -17 -29 +39 -18 -28  3.0  2094 
38. Popa, Florin                  ITA 2216  - 3 +41 +37 -21 +29 -12 -24 -27 -31  3.0  2154 
39. Guglielmi, Dante              ITA 2113  +30 -23 -16 -25 =41 =28 -37 -33 +44  3.0  2056 
40. Santurbano,Maria Vincenza         ----  - 4 -22 -34 +31 +43 -30 =28 -35 =42  3.0  1997 
41. Petraki, Maria                GRE 2108  - 6 -38 =31 =42 =39 -27 +43 -34 =36  3.0  2007 
42. Perryman,Marcus                   ----  -26 -28 -35 =41 =31 -43 =44 =36 =40  2.5  1931 
43. Masullo,Andrea                    ----  =20 -32 -18 -44 -40 +42 -41  .   .   1.5  1938 
44. Padovani, Alessio             ITA 2107  -13 -19 -29 +43 -30 -35 =42 -31 -39  1.5  1858 
45. BYE                               ----   .   .   .   .   .   .  -31  .   .   0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1'   3-Lazic Miroljub           SCGGM  6.5   46.5                 
  2'   5-Horvath Jozsef           HUNGM  6.5   45.0                 
  3'   1-GODENA Michele           TV GM  6.5   43.5                 
  4'  22-BRUNELLO Sabino          BG -M  6.5   42.0                 
  5'   4-Stojanovic Mihajlo       SCGIM  6.0   47.5                 
  6'  15-SHYTAJ Luca              BA FM  6.0   46.5                 
  7'   6-ORTEGA Lexy              RM GM  6.0   43.5                 
  8'  16-Salvador Roland          PHI-M  6.0   41.0                 
  9'   9-Martinez Rolly           PHI-M  5.5   44.5                 
 10'  24-CARUSO Augusto           VI -M  5.5   42.5                 
 11'  19-BUCHICCHIO Giampaolo     SS FM  5.5   41.5  3.5            
 12'   7-Skembris Spyridon        GREGM  5.5   41.5  3.0            
 13'  18-COCCHI Andrea            BO FM  5.5   37.0                 
 14'  11-BORGO Giulio             PN IM  5.0   43.5                 
 15'  28-LETTIERI Giuseppe        SA -M  5.0   42.5                 
 16'  21-VOCATURO Daniele         RM CM  5.0   38.5  3.0     5   20'
 17'   2-Luther Thomas            GERGM  5.0   38.5  3.0     5   22'
 18'  26-SCHARRER Patrick         BZ CM  5.0   33.5                 
 19'   8-Moser Eva                AUTIM  4.5   42.0  3.0            
 20'  27-SBARRA Marco             SV FM  4.5   42.0  1.5            
 21'  14-GUIDO Flavio             GE FM  4.5   40.0                 
 22'  31-CAPITELLI Paolo          BA CM  4.5   38.5                 
 23'  13-Trabert Bettina          GERWG  4.5   37.5                 
 24'  12-BRUNO Fabio              MC FM  4.5   36.5  3.0            
 25'  20-D'INNOCENTE Stefano      PE -M  4.5   36.5  2.5            
 26'  32-DELIZIA Costantino       NA CM  4.5   35.5                 
 27'  25-ESPOSITO Luca            NA -M  4.0   36.5                 
 28'  29-PECHY Alaster            VE CM  4.0   34.5                 
 29'  33-DANIELI Enrico           VI CM  4.0   34.0                 
 30'  17-DE-SANTIS Alessio        RM FM  4.0   30.5                 
 31'  43-SCHIRALDI Mauro          VR CM  4.0   26.5                 
 32'  41-MIATELLO Alberto         CO CM  3.5   37.5                 
 33'  10-Mrdja Milan              CROIM  3.5   34.5                 
 34'  38-BERTANI Gianfranco       VR CM  3.5   34.0                 
 35'  34-OPACIC Alexandar         VI CM  3.5   33.0                 
 36'  23-POPA Florin              VR -M  3.0   36.0                 
 37'  30-FACCHETTI Gianni         MI -M  3.0   32.5  3.0            
 38'  44-SANTURBANO Maria VincenzaCH CM  3.0   32.5  1.5            
 39'  39-GUGLIELMI Dante          MC CM  3.0   31.5                 
 40'  35-ASTENGO Corrado          MI -M  3.0   29.5                 
 41'  37-Petraki Maria            GRE-M  3.0   29.0                 
 42'  42-PERRYMAN Marcus          VR CM  2.5   26.5                 
 43'  40-PADOVANI Alessio         AN CM  1.5   31.0                 
 44'  36-MASULLO Andrea           SI CM  1.5   28.5

8) Augsburg GM

The Augsburg GM tournament took place 27th December 2004 - 6th January 2005. Eduardas Rozentalis won the event with 7.5/11.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GM Augsburg GER (GER), 27 xii 2004 - 6 i 2005            cat. VIII (2437)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Rozentalis, Eduardas   g LTU 2595  * = = = = = 1 1 0 1 1 1  7.5  2556 
 2. Rogers, Ian            g AUS 2593  = * = 1 1 = 0 = = 1 1 =  7.0  2525 
 3. Atalik, Suat           g BIH 2541  = = * = 0 = 1 1 1 = = 1  7.0  2529 
 4. Renner, Christoph      m GER 2398  = 0 = * = 0 1 1 0 1 1 1  6.5  2505 
 5. Heinzel, Olaf          f GER 2402  = 0 1 = * 1 0 1 = 0 1 =  6.0  2476 
 6. Van der Weide, Karel   m NED 2457  = = = 1 0 * 1 0 1 = 0 1  6.0  2471 
 7. Langheinrich, Ferenc     GER 2395  0 1 0 0 1 0 * 0 = 1 1 1  5.5  2441 
 8. Bromberger, Stefan     m GER 2440  0 = 0 0 0 1 1 * = = 1 1  5.5  2437 
 9. Pitl, Gregory          f GER 2305  1 = 0 1 = 0 = = * = 0 =  5.0  2413 
10. Arnold, Lothar         m GER 2340  0 0 = 0 1 = 0 = = * = 1  4.5  2381 
11. Wolfsteiner, Helmut    f GER 2352  0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 1 = * =  3.5  2312 
12. Reiss, Tibor           m HUN 2430  0 = 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 = *  2.0  2176 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Man-Machine Indonesia

There is a match between Indonesia's best players and 4 strong chess programs took place January 10th-11th 2005. The humans took a 14.5-1.5 hammering.

Official site: http://www.indochess.com/

---------------------------------------------------------
Indochess Man Machine Jakarta IND (IND), 10-11 i 2005
---------------------------------------------------------
                                         1  2  3  4 
---------------------------------------------------------
Computer 14.5
1. FRITZ 8                        ----  +7 +6 +8 +5  4.0 
2. SHREDDER 8                     ----  +5 +8 =6 +7  3.5 
3. CHESSMASTER 9000               ----  +8 =5 +7 +6  3.5 
4. JUNIOR 8                       ----  +6 +7 =5 +8  3.5 
Indonesian Team 1.5
5. Halay, Taufik           f  INA 2264  -2 =3 =4 -1  1.0 
6. Megaranto, Susanto      m  INA 2439  -4 -1 =2 -3  0.5 
7. Adianto, Utut           g  INA 2588  -1 -4 -3 -2  0.0 
8. Purnama, Tirta Chandra     INA 2286  -3 -2 -1 -4  0.0 
---------------------------------------------------------

10) Stepichev Memorial

The Stepichev Memorial took place in Kiev 21st-29th of December 2004. Vadim Shishkin won the event with 7.5/9. The ratings of some of the players may be wrong, the official site was clearly not using the FIDE list and this made finding out who was rated and who was not difficult. My thanks to Thomas Henrich for his help.

Official site: http://mirror01.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/turnir/t037.html

----------------------------------------------------
Stepchev Memorial Kiev UKR (UKR), 21-29 xii 2004
----------------------------------------------------
  1. Shishkin, Vadim        m  UKR 2480    7.5  2529
  2. Pavlov, Sergey            UKR 2368    7.0  2316
  3. Kernazhitsky, Leonid   m  UKR 2377    7.0  2364
  4. Borsuk, Konstantin        UKR 2152    7.0  2369
  5. Moiseev, Igor             UKR 2349    7.0  2345
  6. Vovk, Orest               UKR 2296    6.5  2334
  7. Ianovsky, Alexander       UKR 2328    6.5  2301
  8. Perun, Sergey          m  UKR 2350    6.5  2362
  9. Kliun, Bogdan             UKR ----    6.5  2292
 10. Nogin, Nikolai            UKR 2364    6.5  2242
 11. Semenov, Dmitri           UKR 2342    6.0  2337
 12. Kislinsky, Alexey      m  UKR 2408    6.0  2326
 13. Golichenko, Ilija         UKR 2240    6.0  2283
 14. Galinsky, Timofey      m  UKR 2416    6.0  2232
 15. Dolzhikova, Kateryna      UKR 2244    6.0  2275
 16. Evchin, Maxim             UKR 2248    6.0  2141
 17. Kruglyakov, Pavel         UKR ----    6.0  2205
 18. Omelia,Artiom             UKR ----    6.0  2219
 19. Bidkov,Anton              UKR ----    6.0  2186
 20. Diak,Grigoriy             UKR ----    6.0  2151
 21. Motrenko,Nikolay          UKR ----    6.0  2161
115 players

11) Montreal World Chess Tournament

The Montreal World Chess Tournament takes place January 15th-22nd 2005 in Saint-Laurent. I will hopefully be able to round up all the games at the end of the event.

Official site: http://www.monroi.com/worldchesstournament/

1-3  GM Rogelio Antonio        PHI 2539 1.5
     GM Dmitry Jakovenko       RUS 2596 1.5
     GM Victor Mikhalevski     ISR 2553 1.5
4-8  GM John Fedorowicz        USA 2507 1.0
     GM Arnaud Hauchard        FRA 2487 1.0
     GM Igor-Alexandre Nataf   FRA 2557 1.0
     IM Eugene Perelshteyn     USA 2505 1.0
     IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon CAN 2425 1.0
  9  IM Jean Hebert            CAN 2410 0.5
 10  IM Eric Lawson            CAN 2373 0.0

12) 4th Praha Open

The 4th Praha Open takes place 14th-21st January 2005.

Official site: http:/www.czechtour.net

Leading Round 3 Standings:
 1 Simacek Pavel           m  2432 CZE 3.0 6.0 5.0
 2 Sergeeva Maria         wg  2312 KAZ 3.0 6.0 4.0
 3 Skjoldborg Jesper          2274 DEN 3.0 6.0 4.0
 4 Orlov Andrey            m  2403 RUS 3.0 6.0 3.0
 5 Hasangatin Ramil        g  2353 RUS 2.5 5.5 6.0
 6 Cernousek Lukas            2321 CZE 2.5 5.5 6.0
 7 Van Der Weide Karel     m  2490 NED 2.5 5.5 5.5
 8 Virostko Petr              2319 CZE 2.5 5.5 5.5
 9 Meduna Eduard           g  2435 CZE 2.5 5.5 5.5
10 Stross Frantisek           2255 CZE 2.5 5.5 5.5
11 Trickov Vasil           m  2340 CZE 2.5 5.5 5.0
12 Adler Viktor            m  2399 USA 2.5 5.5 5.0
13 Voloshin Leonid         g  2464 CZE 2.5 5.0 5.0
14 Priborsky Jan              2305 CZE 2.5 5.0 4.5
15 Popchev Milko           g  2442 BUL 2.5 4.5 4.5
16 Hardarson Robert        f  2325 ISL 2.5 4.5 3.5
17 Zakhartsov Viacheslav V m  2529 RUS 2.5 4.5 3.0
104 players

13) 9th Bad Zwestener Schachtage

The 9th Bad Zwestener Schachtage took place 2nd-8th January 2005. Vadim Malakhatko won on tie-break as 7 players finished on 7/9. No games currently available even though there was some live coverage.

Official site: http://www.schach-in-nordhessen.de/main.html

9th Bad Zwestener Schachtage 2nd-8th January 2005
 1. Malakhatko,Vadim         2569  7.0 38.0 55.0 
 2. Savchenko,Stanisl        2505  7.0 38.0 52.5 
 3. Bischoff,Klaus           2555  7.0 37.0 53.0 
 4. Ivanov,Victor L          2463  7.0 36.5 52.5 
 5. Miroshnichenko,Ev        2620  7.0 36.0 52.5 
 6. Donchenko,Anatoli        2441  7.0 34.5 50.0 
 7. Genov,Petar              2470  7.0 33.5 49.5 
 8. Kasparov,Sergey          2464  6.5 37.5 52.5 
 9. Baramidze,David          2550  6.5 36.5 54.0 
10. Shneider,Alexander       2528  6.5 36.5 52.5 
11. Gutman,Lev               2461  6.5 35.0 51.5 
12. Meinhardt,Maximil        2329  6.5 33.0 50.5 
13. Kersten,Uwe              2318  6.5 33.0 49.0 
14. Michalczak,Thomas        2376  6.5 33.0 47.5 
15. Vogel,Jaap               2283  6.5 32.5 49.0 
16. Braun,Arik               2463  6.0 38.5 55.5 
17. Jobava,Baadur            2640  6.0 35.5 55.0 
18. Meier,Georg              2372  6.0 35.0 53.5 
19. Wells,Peter K.           2519  6.0 34.0 51.5 
20. Koscielski,Janus         2360  6.0 33.0 52.5 
21. Reschke,Stefan           2355  6.0 33.0 48.0 
22. Sobolevski,Leonid        2354  6.0 33.0 46.0 
23. Zozulia,Anna             2411  6.0 32.5 50.0 
24. Zaragatski,Ilja          2344  6.0 32.0 48.0 
25. Kasparova,Tatiana        2204  6.0 32.0 47.5 
26. Lorscheid,Gerhard        2274  6.0 32.0 46.0 
27. Stotyn,Fabian            2197  6.0 31.5 50.0 
28. Burg,Twan                2099  6.0 30.5 47.5 
29. Mietner,Wolfgang         2135  6.0 30.0 47.0 
30. Gazic,Josip              2224  6.0 30.0 45.5 
176 players

14) IV Cerrado Internacional Escuela Kasparov-Marcote

The IV Cerrado Internacional Escuela Kasparov-Marcote took place 6th-11th January 2005. Alejandro Hoffman won the event slightly ahead of Karen Movsziszian on tie-break both making 6.5/9. No games available.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezmarcote.com/2005/4cerrado/4cerrado.php

 1-2  Hoffman, Alejandro    ARG   2472     6.5   26.50    4
      Movsziszian, Karen    ARM   2455     6.5   25.50    4
 3-4  Frois, Antonio        POR   2349     6     26.25    3
      Del Río, Gabriel      ESP   2502     6     21.50    5
  5   Pena Gomez, Manuel    ESP   2250     4.5   16.00    3
  6   Lariño Nieto, David   ESP   2315     4     15.00    3
 7-8  Rivera, Daniel        URU   2336     3.5   15.50    2
      Salgado López, Iván   ESP   2278     3.5   14.00    1
  9   Outerelo Ucha, Manuel ESP   2239     2.5    9.00    2
 10   Peña, Alfredo         COL   2217     2      8.25    1

15) 3rd Parsvnath International Open

3rd Parsvnath International Open Chess, New Delhi took place 3rd-10th Jan, 2005. Total players 283 from 12 countries. Krishnan Sasikiran edged out Abhijit Kunte on tie break after both finished on 9/11. No games available.

Further details: http://delhichess04.batcave.net and original inviation: http://www.delhichess.com/

3rd Parsvnath International Open 2005 
Final Round 11 Standings
  1   Sasikiran Krishnan,  g  IND 2657  9    57.5
  2   Abhijit Kunte,       g  IND 2568  9    56.5
  3   Enamul Hossain,      m  BAN 2434  8.5  55.0
      S Satyapragyan,      m  IND 2376  8.5  55.0
  5   Anton Filippov,      m  UZB 2483  8.5  54.0
  6   Kayumov, Dmitry D,   g  UZB 2453  8.5  51.0
  7   Ratnakaran. K.,         IND 2367  8.5  49.5
  8   Deep Sengupta,          IND 2400  8    54.0
  9   R.R.Laxman,          m  IND 2377  8    53.0
 10   Himanshu Sharma,        IND 2377  8    51.0
 11   Ramesh.R.B.,         g  IND 2464  8    50.5
 12   Alexander Fominyh,   g  RUS 2511  8    50.0
 13   Saptarshi Roy,          IND 2428  8    49.5
 14   S Arun Prasad,       f  IND 2347  8    49.0
 15   S Roy Chowdhury,     m  IND 2368  8    48.5
 16   Prathamesh Mokal,    m  IND 2385  7.5  49.5
 17   P.D.S. Girinath,        IND 2404  7.5  48.5
      V Saravanan,         m  IND 2327  7.5  48.5
      Balasubramaniam.R.,     IND 2285  7.5  48.5
 20   M.S. Thej Kumar,        IND 2338  7.5  48.0
      V Koshy,             m  IND 2334  7.5  48.0
      Holmirzaev Bahodir,     UZB 2161  7.5  48.0
 23   Abhijeet Gupta,      f  IND 2372  7.5  47.5
 24   Konguvel.P.,         m  IND 2405  7.5  47.0
      K. Ramu,                IND 2279  7.5  47.0
 26   Vishal Sareen,       m  IND 2387  7.5  46.5
      Visweswaran. K,         IND 2296  7.5  46.5
 28   Jayant Gokhale,         IND 2306  7.5  46.0
 29   Suvarjit Saha,          IND 2419  7.5  45.5
      Vinod Bhagwat,          IND 2257  7.5  45.5
 31   Dibyendu Barua,      g  IND 2520  7.5  44.5
      S Poobesh Anand,     m  IND 2365  7.5  44.5
 33   Samakov Nurdin,         KGZ 2179  7.5  40.5
 34   D V Prasad,          m  IND 2359  7    48.0
275 players

16) Open Norwegian Rapid Championship

The Open Norwegian Rapid Championship 2005 was played in Oslo on the 8th and 9th of January 2005. The tournament was held in memory of Haakon Opsahl, who represented both Canada and Norway in Chess Olympiads. 112 players participated, playing in three groups according to rating. News: Lars Torstein Bae.

Final standings in group A: 1. GM Simen Agdestein NOR 2586 10,5/11 2. GM Normunds Miezis LAT 2547 10,0 3. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen NOR 2516 9,5 4. FM Oystein Hole NOR 2343 6,5 5. Harald Borchgrevink NOR 2257 6,0 ...

Results and photos at the homepage of the organizing club SK 1911, http://home.online.no/~oheitun/hnm05.htm

17) Tapolca Open

The Tapolca Open took place 7th-15th January 2005. Gyorgy Keschitz won the event with 7.5/9.

Final Round 9 Standings Tapolca Varos Evadnyit Open 6th-15th January 2005 Budapest.

  1.   15  Keschitz Gyorgy             7.5  48.0  38.50  40.5  2204 2499 +3.27
  2.    1  Jakab Attila                7.0  52.5  39.50  35.0  2439 2412 -0.29
  3.   18  Szakolczai Peter  E         6.5  47.0  31.50  32.5  2199 2364 +2.00
        2  Nemeth Zoltan               6.5  43.0  29.50  29.0  2375 2286 -0.79
  5.    4  Lengyel Bela                6.0  52.0  32.25  32.5  2313 2324 +0.06
        3  Horvath Andras              6.0  51.0  33.00  31.0  2330 2298 -0.39
       11  Szell Lajos                 6.0  51.0  31.75  35.5  2236 2293 +0.69
       12  Szakall Tamas               6.0  50.5  31.50  36.0  2224 2338 +1.32
       20  Prohaszka Peter  E          6.0  50.0  32.50  33.5  2194 2359 +2.04
       13  Juracsik Jozsef             6.0  48.5  30.25  30.0  2223 2307 +0.96
       14  Fordan Tibor                6.0  46.5  28.50  31.0  2215 2313 +1.14
       19  Piroska Istvan  E           6.0  44.5  28.75  29.5  2198 2303 +1.23
       23  Tornai Imre E               6.0  43.5  30.25  27.5  2189 2333 +1.44
        6  Pasztor Ferenc              6.0  42.0  27.50  27.5  2290 2243 -0.57
       24  Ladanyi Tibor E             6.0  41.0  24.00  27.5  2183 2282 +1.14
71 players

18) Australian Open

The Australian Open Chess Championships took place December 28th, 2004 to January 9th, 2005. Elena Sedina won the event. Games from the final two rounds are missing.

Website: http://www.mtbullerchess.com

Final Round 11 Standings:
-----------------------------------------------
Lidums Australian Open Mount Buller AUS (AUS), 
28 xii 2004 - 9 i 2005
-----------------------------------------------
 1 Sedina, Elena         8.5  52.5  74.5  62.5
 2 Johansen, Darryl      8.0  51.0  80.0  66.0
 3 Hecht, Hans Joachim   8.0  50.5  76.0  62.0
 4 D'Amore, Carlo        8.0  50.0  75.5  61.5
 5 Arlandi, Ennio        7.5  53.0  78.0  64.0
 6 Kengis, Edvins        7.5  51.5  77.5  64.0
 7 Dragicevic, Domagoj   7.5  44.5  72.0  58.5
 8 Jordan, Bill          7.5  42.5  66.5  54.0
 9 Pecori, Ascaro        7.5  42.0  62.5  51.5
10 Bjelobrk, Igor        7.0  49.0  77.5  64.5
11 Guthrie, Aaron        7.0  45.0  73.0  60.0
12 Smerdon, David        7.0  44.5  69.0  57.0
13 Rej, Tomek            7.0  43.0  68.5  56.0
14 Song, Raymond         7.0  42.0  67.0  55.5
15 Xie, George           6.5  46.0  74.0  61.5
16 Humphrey, Jonathan    6.5  42.5  72.5  59.0
17 Wei, Michael          6.5  41.5  63.5  51.0
18 Sonter, Matthew       6.5  39.0  63.5  51.5
19 Jackson, Ralph        6.5  38.5  63.5  50.5
20 Obst, James           6.5  38.0  66.0  54.5
21 Wongwichit, Phachara  6.5  37.0  65.5  54.0
22 Stojic, Dusan         6.5  34.5  60.5  48.5
75 players

19) Victor Frias 1956-2005

Victor Frias 10th February 1956 - 16th January 2005. Its being reported that Chilian IM Victor Frias died in New York on 16th January 2005. Frias played a lot in the US throughout his career and even in the US Championships. Amongst his better results was the 3rd= place he achieved in the Bermuda A tournament of 1995. He seemed to have stopped playing competitive chess in 1998 apart from appearances in the US amateur team East event the last of which he played in early in 1994.

20) No movement in the Fischer case

There has been no movement since the granting of a Visa to Bobby Fischer by the Icelandic Government. Bobby Fischer has now been held in detention in Ushiku, the immigration lock-up in Japan, for almost six months. News from Einar S. Einarsson.

15 Janury 2005 A status report from RJF Committee - Iceland - http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/fischerupdate.html

21) ACP Tour Update

Yannick Pelletier reports on the ACP Tour - Period January 2005. The ACP Tour season 2004-2005 is now half-way through. Many tournaments have been taken into account recently as we witnessed a very busy period around New Year. Viswanathan Anand is still comfortably leading the standings with 1010 points ahead of Vladimir Kramnik (720) and Alexander Morozevich (610). Thanks to his tournament victories in Ashdod and Pamplona Boris Gelfand jumped to fourth place with a total of 556 points. One should note the appearance of Sergey Karjakin and Boris Avrukh among the qualifying spots. The young Ukrainian star raised his score by 216 points thanks to a solid second place in Pamplona, while Boris Avrukh shared 1st place in Ashdod. However, as you can check on ACP's website at http://www.chess-players.org/eng/tour/standings.html , all players are very close to each other from place 7 on. An exciting month lies ahead of us with two top events coming up - the Corus CT in Wijk aan Zee and the Bermuda Invitational Tournament - as well as the strong open Third Gibtele.com Chess Festival in Gibraltar. Changes in the standings are likely to happen!

22) Professional World Chess Ranking

The Professional World Chess Ranking for players rated 2500 and higher for January 2005 has been released and incorporates the FIDE Olympiad. Below is the top 50. Produced by Ken Thomson, San Jose and calculated by Vladimir Dvorkovich, Moscow.

NN           Name            Birthday  Country Rating Variance
1   Kasparov,Garry          13.04.1963   RUS    2745    146
2   Anand,Viswanathan       11.12.1969   IND    2740    137
3   Morozevich,Alexander    18.07.1977   RUS    2715    171
4   Topalov,Veselin         15.03.1975   BUL    2714    153
5   Adams,Michael           17.11.1971   ENG    2695    131
6   Polgar,Judit            23.07.1976   HUN    2690    161
7   Kramnik,Vladimir        25.06.1975   RUS    2685    125
8   Leko,Peter              08.09.1979   HUN    2680    130
9   Svidler,Peter           17.06.1976   RUS    2680    150
10  Gelfand,Boris           24.06.1968   ISR    2665    137
11  Kasimdzhanov,Rustam     05.12.1979   UZB    2653    169
12  Shirov,Alexei           04.07.1972   ESP    2648    159
13  Grischuk,Alexander      31.10.1983   RUS    2646    164
14  Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter  01.08.1976   ROM    2645    142
15  Ivanchuk,Vassily        18.03.1969   UKR    2644    164
16  Vallejo Pons,Francisco  21.08.1982   ESP    2643    166
17  Bareev,Evgeny           21.11.1966   RUS    2642    170
18  Sokolov,Ivan            13.06.1968   NED    2640    162
19  Dreev,Alexey            30.01.1969   RUS    2639    147
20  Aronian,Levon           06.10.1982   ARM    2636    142
21  Akopian,Vladimir        07.12.1971   ARM    2635    157
22  Bacrot,Etienne          22.01.1983   FRA    2632    153
23  Gurevich,Mikhail        22.02.1959   BEL    2631    137
24  Ponomariov,Ruslan       11.10.1983   UKR    2630    183
25  Lautier,Joel            12.04.1973   FRA    2628    142
26  Azmaiparashvili,Zurab   16.03.1960   GEO    2627    174
27  Georgiev,Kiril          28.11.1965   BUL    2622    159
28  Dominguez,Lenier        23.09.1983   CUB    2621    164
29  Karpov,Anatoli          23.05.1951   RUS    2620    137
30  Rublevsky,Sergei        15.10.1974   RUS    2620    182
31  Van Wely,Loek           07.10.1972   NED    2619    155
32  Sakaev,Konstantin       13.04.1974   RUS    2619    161
33  Radjabov,Teimour        12.03.1987   AZE    2617    136
34  Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar   12.04.1985   AZE    2615    147
35  Motylev,Alexander       17.06.1979   RUS    2613    186
36  Volokitin,Andrei        11.06.1986   UKR    2610    157
37  Smirnov,Pavel           27.04.1982   RUS    2605    180
38  Hansen,Curt             18.09.1964   DEN    2604    161
39  Movsesian,Sergei        03.11.1978   SVK    2603    146
40  Nielsen,Peter-Heine     24.05.1973   DEN    2602    160
41  Short,Nigel D           01.06.1965   ENG    2601    178
42  Sutovsky,Emil           19.09.1977   ISR    2600    181
43  Nikolic,Predrag         11.09.1960   BIH    2598    169
44  Onischuk,Alexander      03.09.1975   USA    2597    173
45  Bologan,Viorel          14.12.1971   MDA    2595    177
46  Graf-Nenashev,Alexander 25.08.1962   GER    2594    182
47  Navara,David            27.03.1985   CZE    2593    183
48  Nakamura,Hikaru         09.12.1987   USA    2591    198
49  Krasenkow,Mikhail       14.11.1963   POL    2590    169
50  Filippov,Valerij        28.11.1975   RUS    2587    166

23) Forthcoming Events and Links

6th Poikovsky Karpov tournament

The 6th Karpov tournament in Poikovsky, Russia takes place 26th February - 7th March 2005. Players: Peter Svidler, Etienne Bacrot (still considering entry), Alexander Grischuk, Alexey Dreev, Viktor Bologan, Rafael Vaganian, Lenier Domingues, Alexander Onischuk, Sergey Rublevsky + more). Average XVIII category. Further information soon.

Further details: http://www.chesspro.ru/events/poikovsky05.shtml

Gibtele.com Masters International

The Gibtele.com Masters International takes place 25th January - 3rd February 2005. Many sections for different strengths of player. First prize £4000, total for the whole event £20,5000.

Leading entries so far: Alexei Shirov, Alexey Dreev, Lev Aronian, Emil Sutovsky, Krishnan Sasikiran, Kiril Georgiev, Pavel Tregubov, Hikaru Nakamura, Gabriel Sargissian, Zahar Efimenko, Ian Rogers, Kevin Spraggett, Vassilios Kotronias, Evgenij Agrest, Alexander Areshchenko, Petr Kiriakov, Hicham Hamdouchi, Jon Speelman, Peter Wells, Gabrielle Del Rio, Nicholas Pert, Pascal Charbonneau, Simon Williams, Chris Ward and Pia Cramling

Full details: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

Brunei Open

The Brunei Open takes place 14th Jan to 19th Jan 2005.

Official site: http://www.bruneichess.org.bn/

4th Aeroflot Chess Festival

The 4th Aeroflot Chess festival takes place in Hotel Rossija in Moscow, 14th (arrival day) - 24th February 2005 (departure day).

There are 4 tournaments: Tournament A1 for players rated 2550 and higher, tournament A2 for players rated 2400 and higher, but lower than 2550, tournament B for players rated 2200 and higher, but lower than 2400 and tournament C for players rated under 2200 and unrated players. The organising committee has in special cases the right to permit a player to participate in a higher group than indicated by his rating.

The tournaments are 9 rounds Swiss tournaments. The total prize fund is $175.000.

The organising committee offers packages for Aeroflot tickets, hotel and entry fee. The Aeroflot packages prices are published on the website of the festival.

Further details: http://www.aeroflotchess.com

For more information it is possible to contact the Association of Chess Federations in Moscow: Tel/Fax: +7-095-2918578 or E-mail: chess@sovintel.ru

Asia vs. Rest of the World Charity Correspondence Match

AJEC (French CC Association) with the help of Med Samraoui (ICCF Zonal Director for Asia and Africa) are organising a match "AJEC/Asia vs. Rest of the World". The pairings will be done according to the native country of the entrant players. The main rules of this match are as follows:

1. Med Samraoui msamraoui@iccf.com will be the TD of the match. He will collect entries from Asian players and Rest of the World Players. Med will be helped by Jean Marc Refalo from France jm.refalo@ajec-echecs.org to collect the entries from French players.

2. The games will be played on the ICCF webserver www.iccf-webchess.com with the last rules adopted in Mumbai Congress.

3. The entry fee is 8 euros. Generous donors can give more. All the money will be given to a charity organisation. You can send the payment to your national federation. Please find out your National Delegate at http://www.iccf.com/nations/start_01.shtml

National delegates will send entries to Mr. Samraoui.

4. Everybody can participate in this match which will begin on February 15th.

5. To have more details and to subscribe please feel free to contact Med Samraoui or Jean Michel Refalo.

Sozina 2005

The Sozina 2005 tournament takes place in Bar a city on the Montenegro coast 4th-12th March 2005. Prize fund is EUR 10.000, and organizer guaranty possibility of getting norms for international titles. Also, special conditions are provide for the grandmasters. Further details contact: sozina2005@yahoo.com

Further details; http://www.scgchess.org/

Azura Chess Open

The Azura Chess Open International Rapid Chess Tournament also Belgian Rapid Chess Championship 2005 Brussels Rapid Chess Championship 2005 takes place Saturday-Sunday 23rd-24th April 2005 (11 rounds ~ 25 minutes games) Tournament for players with more than 2000 elo.

Playing venue: Palais du Midi rue van der Weyden 3 1000 Brussels Entry fee : IGM and IM free Others 25 euro Junior 15 euro

Registration: Registration only by e-mail. No registration at the venue. bennyasman@skynet.be Send payment to 210-0937331-72 with your name and elo rating as message

Details: http://www.creb.be/

Fajr Chess Festival

There are three events in the Fajr Chess Festival

I- 13th Fajr International Open Tournament, 27Jan. - 1st Feb. 2005 take Place in Tehran, 9 round Swiss, FIDE standard time control (90 Min.+ 30 Sec./Move), with 10000$ prize money.

II- 3rd Fajr International Youth tournament, under 10,12&14 years old Categories, 2-6 Feb. 2005 take place in Tehran, 9 round Swiss, Fide Standard time control (90 Min. + 30 Sec./Mov.) with 3000$ prize money.

III- 2nd Kish GM tournament, 2-10 Feb. 2005 take place in Kish Island, 12 Players Round Robin tournament, FIDE standard time control (90 Min. + 30 Sec./Mov.)

Further details: http://www.iranchess.com/indexen.html

Evry Tournaments

The 2nd GM and IM tournaments in Evry takes place 21st-27th February 2005.

Official site: http://www.evry-grandroque.com

21st Cappelle la Grande Open

The 21st Cappelle la Grande Open takes place 12th-19th February 2005.

Official site: http://www.cappelle-chess.com

Moscow Open 2005

The Moscow Open 2005 takes place 23rd February - 3rd March 2005 in the Central Chess House, Gogolevsky Boulevard 14. The Moscow Chess Federation organises this 9 round event with a time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1.

Contacts - Moscow Chess Federation: phone/fax: (+7)-095-250044. E-mail: mcf05@mail.ru

Detailed information: http://www.chessplayers.org/eng/news/viewarticle.html?id=242

HB Global Chess Challenge

The HB Foundation has posted $500,000 prize fund for the HB Global Chess Challenge, a Maurice Ashley-led event expects to bring more than 4,000 participants to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The event takes place May 18th-22nd 2005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. First place in the Open section has a cash prize of $50,000, and that overall more than 50 others will receive cash prizes. Many other side events. There is an extension to the discount period for signing up for the event.

Official sites: http://www.hbfoundation.org and http://www.generationchess.com

Stepichev Memorial

The Stepichev Memorial took place in Kiev 21st-29th of December 2004.

Futher information: http://mirror01.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/turnir/t037.html

16th Pobeskydi Tournament

The 16th Pobeskydi Chess Tournament takes place 24th-28th March 2005 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. There will be at least two tournaments. Round-robin with possibility to achieve IM and WGM norm and FIDE Open.

For futher details: http://www.chessfm.cz

7th United Insurance GM Rescheduled due to Tsunami

The 7th United Insurance & United Leasing Grandmasters Chess Tournament has been rescheduled (due to the Tsunami) and now takes place 4th-14th April 2005 in the Conference-Room of the National Sports Council 62/3 Purana Paltan Dhaka-1000. Organised by the Bangladesh Chess Federation. 11 round Swiss System with around 40. Total Prize Money US $5000.00 Accommodation & Food : Free for all GM’s & IM’s, only accommodation 2350+ Appearance Money : GM 2500+ US $ 500.00. Contact: Syed Shujauddin Ahmed, General Secretary Bangladesh Chess Federation, 2nd Floor, 62/3 Purana Paltan, Dhaka-1000, Fax + Phone: 88 (02) 7169336 , E-mail: bcf@bdonline.com

Millennium Chess Festival

The 6th annual Millennium Chess Festival takes place February 25th-27th 2005, at the Ramada Plaza Oceanfront Resort in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. The event, with over $18,000 in total prizes, is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and is presented by Beach Events and the city of Virginia Beach. It is a 5-round swiss, FIDE rated.

Comps available: GMs/WGMs/IMs: free entry fee. GMs/WGMs: free hotel accommodations if you commit to come by February 10, 2005. Contact eschlich@aol.com for details.

Special events include: Lecture by Susan Polgar on Fischer-Random Chess (Chess 960), Fischer-Random Blitz Chess Tournament, Nakamura vs Susan Polgar ³Dinner/Exhibition Match²

Further information: http://www.geocities.com/millenniumchessfestival

Nakamura vs. Polgar Chess Exhibition

New U.S. Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura and GM Susan Polgar have agreed to play a unique ³GM Dinner/Exhibition Match² game during the Millennium Chess Festival on February 26, 2005, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.

The unusual exhibition game features two grandmasters playing each other from separate rooms before a live audience with moves relayed by radio. As they play, using demo boards, the GMs explain for the audience what they are thinking about and why they are choosing certain options. This year¹s exhibition is the fourth in a popular annual series at the Millennium Chess Festival. Previous participants were Nakamura - Fedorowicz (2004), Shabalov - Fedorowicz (2003), and Stripunsky - Rohde (2002). The Millennium Chess Festival (Feb 25-27) is sponsored by the consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton and is presented by Beach Events and the city of Virginia Beach.

Further information: http://www.geocities.com/millenniumchessfestival

14th Aurec Open

The 14th Aurec Open takes place 19th-20th February 2005. Two rapid tournaments (9 r / 20 mn) Total prize fund : Euro 5,000 Further details: aurec2005@tiscali.fr

12th Echternach International Open

The 12th Echternach International Open takes place 25th-26th June 2005. Seniors should also note the following dates: 2nd Open (rapid chess) for young seniors (aged 50 and above) 13th-14th August 2005. 5th Open-seniors (aged 60 and above) 15th-21st August 2005.

Further info: http://www.desprenger-echternach.lu/

Novi Sad Open A

There are 7 places left for the Open A (actually Semi-closed for IMs and GMs) event taking place 19th-26th March 2005.

Further info: http://www.drazic.co.yu or more specifically http://www.drazic.co.yu/t_2005_03_19-26_info.html

 1  gm Lalic Bogdan         ENG     
 2  gm Kosanovic Goran      SCG     
 3  gm Drazic Sinisa        SCG     
 4  gm Fontaine Robert      FRA     
 5  gm Lazic Miroljub 	     SCG
 6  gm Savic M .R.          SCG     
 7  im Colovic A.           MAC     
 8     Franchini Gabriele   ITA     
 9     Barilaro Luca        ITA     
10  im Pilgaard Kim         DEN     
11     Lundin Jan           SWE     
12  fm Kokeza Mirko         SCG     
13  fm Guadalpi D.          FRA     
14  fm Stupavski Z.         SCG     
15  im Popovic D.           SCG     
16  fm Juergen Brustkern    GER     
17  im Pap Misa             SCG     
18  im Marzolo Cyril        FRA     
19     Craig Young          ENG     
20  im Tratar M.            SLO     
21  im Sebenik  M.          SLO     
22  fm Dumpor A             BIH     
23  gm Kovacevic A.         SCG     
24  im Laketic Gojko        SCG     
25  im Kostic Vlada         SCG     
7 places left

Oceania Zonal

The Oceania 2005 FIDE Zonal qualifier takes place January 30th - February 4th 2005 in Auckland, New Zealand

Official site: http://www.globalchessenterprises.co.nz/

Linares 2005

According to Spanish Teletext Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Peter Leko, Michael Adams, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Rustam Kasimdzhanov will be the 7 players at this year's event. The event takes place 22nd February - 10th March 2005.

Last year Marca had the official website: http://www.marca.com/linares/

ELO Listing:
No. Name                               t  NAT ja05
   1 Kasparov, Garry.................  g  RUS 2804
   2 Anand, Viswanathan..............  g  IND 2786
   3 Topalov, Veselin................  g  BUL 2757
   5 Leko, Peter.....................  g  HUN 2749
   7 Adams, Michael..................  g  ENG 2741
  18 Vallejo Pons, Francisco.........  g  ESP 2686
  25 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam............  g  UZB 2678
Average Rating 2743 Category 20

Alushta Diary 2005

Leonid Galperin sends a calendar of planned events in Alushta, Ukraine 2005.

GM Norm events: 12.05 - 22.05 24.05 - 4.06 17.06-27.06. 1.09-11.09 25.09-5.10 7.10-17.10 IM Norm events 12.05 - 22.05 24.05 -4.06 17.06-27.06. 1.09-11.09 25.09-5.10 7.10-17.10 Rating tournament 5.06 - 13.06 Open tournament (under 16 years) First prize - 200 $ 14.06 - 22.06 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 28.06 12.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 29 - 30.06 13-14.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize 1000 $ First prize (woman) 500$ 2.07-10.07 15.09-23.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 5.06-14.06 25.09-4.10 Alushta Individual and group studying

Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32 (for Russian speaking) + 38 050 669-26-04 (for English speaking) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

5th Chess Grand Prix of Bordeaux

The 5th Chess Grand Prix of Bordeaux takes place 28th April - 1st May 2005. In addition the 2nd Chess Grand Prix in d'Aix en Provence takes place in December 2005.

Details: http://www.grandprixdeparis.com/BA2005.html

Harald Malmgren 100 years Correspondence

31st Dec 2004 saw the start of the first Grandmaster tournament on the ICCF Webserver. The tournament is the "Harald Malmgren 100 years". The occasion is to commemorate the 100:d birthday of Harald Malmgren, Tierp in Sweden. Malmgren was runner up after Cecil Purdy in ICCF's first World Championship and earned his GM title in the event. Malmgren passed away in 1957. In his career he was also second in IFSB Championship 1939 and won the Swedish CC Championship in 1942. Malmgren was a true chess enthusiast and issued a book in 1953 "Mina bästa partier" (My best games) with only CC games he had played.

There are 13 participants and you will be able to follow the results on http://www.schack.se/SSKK/palview/res/malmgren.htm and as soon as about 10 moves are made in every game, SSKK will open a page for "live" games. That is games according to the ICCF CoC regulations for live games. The Category of the event is 10 which means that all norms are available.The tournament has two sponsors, Schackakademin and Svenska Schackbutiken AB.

The players are: IM Jan Bennborn, Sweden, IM Sture Olsson, Sweden, IM Rune Bergquist, Norway, IM Ervin Liebert, Estonia, IM Taisto Koskela, Finland, IM Leif Åhman, Sweden, SIM Jón A Pálsson, Iceland, SIM Josef Mrkvicka, Czech Rep, GM Matthias Rüfenacht; Switzerland, IM Gary S Benson, Australia, SIM John Pugh, England, Phillippe Chopin, France and Mads Smith Hansen, Denmark. The withdrawing ICCF President keeps playing CC and starts this event on his very last day in office.

Tomas Carnstam, Jonas Dahlgren, Robert Ericsson, Sebastian Nilsson and Per Söderberg wedish Correspondence Chess Federation (SSKK) Board members.

European Individual Women's Chess Championship

The European Individual Women's Chess Championship takes place in Chisinau, Moldova 10th-25th June 2005. Organisers Chess Federation of Moldova Sciusev Street, 111 2004, Chisinau Tel.: 00373-22-565451 Fax.: 00373-22-565451 or 210707 E-Mail: fskrip@company.md

Details on http://www.eurochess.org. Official site for the event http://eiwcc2005.chisinau.md/

Games Festival Chalkidiki Greece

The Games Festival is is organised for the first time in Greece and takes place from 21st-29th of April 2005 at the Porto - Carras Grand Resort, in Chalkidiki in Greece.

Tennis, chess, golf, biliards, bridge, famous athletes, world champions will be present in Porto Carras. The festival includes a series of tournaments, competitions, seminars and exhibitions in sports and the most popular entertaining games.

The chess events are the 2nd International Open Chess Tournament "Porto Carras 2005" and the 1st World School Chess Championship. More specifically, the Open Tournament will be held 22nd-28th April 2005 at the Porto Carras Grand Rresort with open participation, 9 rounds swiss system and time control 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move, according to the official announcement of the Greek Chess Club "A.M.O. Galaxias". Total prizes: 6.500 EURO. For more information visit http://www.gamesfestival.com or contact info@gamesfestival.com & GrivasEfs@netonline.gr

The 1st World School Championship for school chess champions in categories Under 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16, will be held 21st-29th April 2005 at the Porto Carras Grand Resort. Organizers of this great event are the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the International School Chess Union, the Greek Chess Federation, the Chess Club "Galaxias" of Thessaloniki and the Hotel Complex of "Porto Carras Grand Resort".

Bermuda Tournament

The Bermuda Invitational will be held 30th January - 9th February 2005 with the traditional Open following - 10th Feb: Opening Party and Blitz; 11th to 13th, 5 round Open followed by Closing Party. The Invitational will be the strongest yet - Dominguez, Gelfand, Harikrishna, Macieja, Vescovi & Volokitin (exp. 2656 Elo) and several of the invitees have confirmed that they will play in the Open.

Further details: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess

38th Biel International Chess Festival

38th Biel International Chess Festival Dates: 16th-29th July 2005 with, in particular: - the Grandmaster tournament (17th-27th July 2005) - the Accentus Ladies Tournament 17th-27th July 2005) - the active chess tournament (16th and 17th July 2005) - the Master Open (18th-29th July 2005, last round in the morning) - the General Open (20th-29th July 2005, last round in the morning) - the Blitz tournament (23th July 2005)

Further details: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch

3rd Nancy International Festival

The 3rd Nancy (France) International Festival sees several round-robins tournaments (9 rounds / fischer 2 hours per players + 30 sec) by elo which take place 14th-20th February 2005.

Group A will be category 10 with : Bauer 2622 Istratescu 2611 Nijboer 2567 Tirard 2461 Marzolo 2437 Rocha 2431 Wirig 2408 Nezar 2375 Philippe 2371. (one im more than 2520 elo non-FRA-code can contact philippe.chr@free.fr).

Details in french/english/german on http://echiquier.nanceien.free.fr/festival.html

Events in India in 2005

5th Asian Individual Championship

The 5th Asian Individual Chess Championship 2005 takes place in Cochin, Total Prize Fund : US$33000. The event has been postponed until 21st-31st March 2005 due to the recent Tsunami disaster. Organiser : P.T. Ummer Koya , koya@chessindia.org ; aicf@chessindia.org Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Commonwealth Championships

The Commonwealth Chess Championships for Men, Women, Boys & Girls incorporating An International Open Chess Tournament TOtal Prize Fund: US$12000 ARRIVAL : 27/02/2005 CLOSING : 09/03/2005 Organiser : Rajastan State Chess Association Contact : aicf@chessindia.org ; slharsh2000@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's International Open

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's International Open Chess Tournament, Raipur Total Prize Fund : Us$12000 Arrival : 10/03/2005 Closing : 20/03/2005 Organiser : Hotel Babylon, Vip Road, Raipur, India. Contact : aicf@chessindia.org ; vkrathi_aicf@rediffmail.com Website : Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Hamarat Challenge Match

The ICCF World Champion Tunc Hamarat (AUT) who has never lost a single game with White, has challenged the "Rest of the World" to a friendly 2-game match. He will have White in both games. The games (one will start with 1.e4 and one with 1.d4) will be played on the ICCF Webserver and started on 10th February 2005 with the rule "10 moves/70 days".

The players on the "Rest of the World" team will vote on each move. The move receiving the most votes will be selected. Should 2 or more moves receive the same number of votes, the "Rest of the World" will be given 2 more voting days to decide between the tied moves. Participation in this event is open to all players who pay an entry fee of 5 EUR or $7.00 US dollars via their National CC Federation or the ICCF Direct Entry (DE) option. All fees collected will be transferred to the ICCF Development Fund. The money will be used primarily for development and system support of the ICCF WebChess Server. It will be possible to join the "Rest of the World" team at any stage of the game.

The games may be seen "live" by all players and other observers at http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Each player who voted for the selected move will receive 1 point per move. The player(s) with the most points at the end of the games will receive an ICCF Gold Book. The list of all entrants will be published on the ICCF webpage.

21st Cappelle la Grande Open

21st INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN - CAPPELLE LA GRANDE - FRANCE 12th-19th February 2005. 9 Round Accelerated Swiss System Tournament, registered with FIDE Rate of play : 2 hours for 40 moves followed by a one hour quickplay finish. Playing hall : COMPLEXE SPORTIF ROGER GOUVART IGM's INVITATIONS - Possibility of norms. Prizes (minimum 600 players) :The 1st prize is :3000 euros The 2nd prize is 1500 euros and 3 to 10: 1000 euros. Registration by templeurjcs@club-internet.fr

Further details: http://www.cappelle-chess.com

Hungarian chess tournaments December 2004 - August 2005

1. 5th-18th of February 2005, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org.NL.

2. 5th-18th of March 2005, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org. : NL,

3. 18th- 26th of March, "SPRING FESTIVAL" 9 rounds Swiss Open, Budapest, Org.: NL

4. 2nd-15th of April , FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org: NL:

5. 7th-19th of May, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, org.: NL

6. 20th-28th of May, ZALAKAROS Open, 9 rounds Swiss, (250 km West from Budapest), org: IM Horvath, Tamas, phone: +(36)-20-9777003

7. 21st-31st of May, ELEKES Memorial, GM-IM closed, Budapest, org.IM Zsinka, phone: +(36)-20-921-91-97

8. 4th-16th of June, FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest, Org: NL

9. 18th-26th of June, BALATONLELLE Open + GM-IM closed, 120 km West from Budapest, organizer: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@axelero.hu

10. 2nd-14th of July, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest, org. NL.

11. 23rd- 31st of July, Agria Open /EGER, 100 km North-East from Budapest/, organizer: Rauch Ferenc, e-mail: rauch@freemail.hu

12. 6th-18th of August, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest org.:NL

Dutch Open Blitzchess Championship

The Dutch Open Blitzchess Championship takes place on February 5th 2005 in the Mercure Hotel Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 17 double rounds with 5 minutes per player per game, Swiss system in one group. Prizefund Euro 8.500. First Euro 1.750, Second Euro 1.250, third Euro 1.000. Also several grading prizes. Contact: info@blitzchess.nl

Further details: http://www.blitzchess.nl

8th Afro-Asian Correspondence Championship

All players from Africa and Asia (including Japan , Hong-Kong, Singapore, New Zealand , Australia, Turkey, ...) may apply for the 8th Afro-Asian Correspondence championship (Zonal Championship) . The preliminary stage will start on 15.01.2005 and will be played by ICCF webserver .There is no entry fees required .The number of sections will depend upon the entries number . The application should be sent to : msamraoui@iccf.com not late than 31.12.2004. (supplied by the ICCF zonal director Med Samraoui)

ICCF website is http://www.iccf.com and for ICCFwebchess http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Czech Tour 2004-2005

4th International Chess Festivals Series

14th-21st January 2005 4th OPEN PRAHA (2 FIDE opens, one of them with IM norm)

22nd-30th January 2005 4th OPEN MARIANSKE LAZNE (FIDE open and 1-2 closed IM tournaments)

More details e-mail: j.mazuch@avekont.cz and http:/www.czechtour.net

Frank Quisinsky Chess Calendar

Frank Quisinsky has updated his computer chess calendar. Recent events include: Dutch-Open 2004, Diep won France-ch 2004, ChessTiger won Polish-ch 2004, Rzeznik won Australasian NCC-ch 2004, Warp won

Address: http://www.playwitharena.com the CC-Calendar is a selection of Arena Chess GUI webpage

CC-Calendar: http://www.playwitharena.com/directory/calendar.htm

Kings Head Rapidplay

The 29th Kings Head Rapidplay will take place on Saturday 12th March 2005, 6-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes), prize fund £650, entry fee £17 > The Porchester Hall Porchester Road Bayswater London W2

Contact: Colin Mackenzie 9 Allan Way Acton London W3 0PW 020 8992 1949 colin.mackenzie@atosorigin.com

Further details: http://www.khcc.org.uk

1st ICCF Webchess Open Tournament

The ICCF have announced the 1st WebChess Open Tournament and invites every player worldwide to participate in the event. The event is to be played on the ICCF dedicated Webserver http://www.iccf-webchess.com. This tournament is open to all correspondence chess players worldwide, also for those without any previous ICCF experience. Multiple entries are allowed. The tournament will be played in three stages - preliminaries, semifinal and final.

Details: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/Message.aspx?message=19

Swiss Chess Tour 2005

The Swiss Chess Tour starts in Basle in the New Year (1st-8th January 2005.). New event is European ITAG Masters & Rapid Championship will be 1-2.1.2005. 11 Round, 30 minutes each, guarantee prizes. Prizes: 2500/2000/1500/1000/800/700/600/500/ 2x400/2x300/4x250/4x200 CHF; Special prizes: 400/300/200 CHF for Ladys, seniors (1945), juniors (1985 and younger), amateur under 2200 (FIDE or national), under 1800. Enter fee 30.00 CHF Hilton Open (2-8.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 6 hours (2 hours for 40 moves + 60 minutes for complete the game. Prizes: 2000/1500/1200/800/600/500/2x400/2x300/5x200 CHF. Special prizes 200 CHF for best Lady, Senior (1945), junior (1985-88), schoolboy (1989). Enter fee: 130 CHF (FM and juniors 60 CHF) GM & IM free. At the door 10 CHF. Basle amateur (2-8.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 4 hours (90 minutes 30 moves + 30 minutes to complete the game). Players under 1900 rating (FIDE or national). Enter fee: 10 CHF (juniors 50 CHF). At the door 10 CHF. Prizes: 500/400/2x300/2x200/4x150 CHF. Basle juniors (2.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 15 minutes for the game. Juniors 1985 and younger. Enter fee 5 CHF. Natural prizes for all players. NSV Senior Open (1-4.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 4 hours (90 minutes for 30 moves + 30 minutes for complete the game) Seniors 1945. Prizes: 400/300/200 CHF + natural prizes. Enter fee: 60 CHF. At the door 10 CHF. ITAG - Tele-Rapid (3-5.1.2005.) European Rapid Champion, Andrei Sokolov, last year winner and two others. 15 minutes for the game. All games will be on TV Tele-Basel in live. BaZ Lighting Chess (8.1.2005. from 19.00 to 22.00) 9 Rounds, 5 minutes. Enter fee: 20 CHF (juniors 5 CHF). Prizes 300/200/150/2x100/2x50 CHF natural prizes for everybody 50% and more points. ITAG Simultan (9.1.2005.) with European Rapid Champion 2005

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06, fax +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Jersey International Chess Festival 2005

The Jersey International Chess Festival takes place 13th-19th February 2005 inclusive. 7 rounds, three sections; OPEN (FIDE rated), MAJOR Under 160 / 1880 ELO and MINOR Under 130 / 1640 ELO. There is a total of £7,000 in prizes and is part of the British Chess Federation Grand Prix.

Details: http://www.geocities.com/adamraoof/jersey.htm

Russia vs ROW Correspondence

The Russian Chess Federation is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is using this occasion to challenge the rest of the world to a match over 64 boards with 2 games for each and the start is 15.02 2004. Players include Joop van Oosterom

http://www.mychessweb.com/Tables/Internationale/Play/russia-world.htm

2005 European Union Championship

The 2005 European Union Championship whic his part of the programme of events celebrating Cork City's status as European Capital of Culture for 2005. The event takes place 21st March - 3rd April 2005 in the Ballroom Suite Gresham Metropole Hotel MacCurtain Street Cork Ireland. Prize Fund - 7,750 Euros. A FIDE rated ten round Swiss Open for players registered with FIDE as a player in the European Union or a citizen of a European Union member state 1st prize 2,000 Euros plus numerous place prizes and other awards including a British Championship Qualifying Place.

In addition the 13th Annual Cork Congress takes place 1st-3rd April 2005 with a Prize Fund 5,000 Euros an ICU rated six round Swiss with three rated sections. 1st prize 750 Euros plus numerous place prizes and other awards

Full details, special offers to a limited number of IMs and GMs and entry forms are available from Michael Burniston Tournament Director Ladybird House Glengarriff County Cork Ireland. phone 00 353 27 63113 e mail jemcreations@eircom.net

Website: http://www.corkchess.com

TWIC Messageboard

With the Linares tournament about to start it seems a good time to launch a new discussion forum. Vote on your prediction of the winner of Linares. The TWIC message board. You need to register to post and vote. Address: http://www.chesscenter.com/messageboard

New York Masters

Regular competition for players in New York Rated 2200 and above.

Further details: http://www.newyorkmasters.com/